READY FOR THE MURAL. Artist Gladys Labsan is seen with Baguio Rep. Mark Go during the launching of the HEROES: Wall of Fame mural project at the Baguio athletic bowl where 32 athletes and sports leaders will be painted on. Inset is former World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Roberto Cruz who is one of the 12 athletes/sports personalities to be painted by Labsan. Photo by Neil Clark Ongchangco
A 5’10” “bad boy” with a James Dean appeal originally from San Fernando, La Union whose father wanted his children to learn English thus they moved up here after the War is Baguio’s greatest boxer ever.
“He was always fighting with somebody, so we knew he will end up as a boxer,” said sister Jaylie dela Cruz de Jesus, referring to her older brother Roberto Cruz who went on to wear the World Boxing Association junior welterweight belt in 1963.
It was on March 21, 1963, that the little known boxer from Baguio flew to the Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, California to fight a beast of a fighter from Mexico for the vacant WBA world light welterweight crown.
Cruz, who was born on November 21, 1941, barely a month before the Japanese arrived here, was practically a nobody when the world title fight materialized. It was his first fight outside of the Philippines and, who, being the Philippine Games and Amusement Board welterweight champion had an unimpressive record of 13 wins, eight losses and two draws.
He debuted in February 2, 1955 as a 14 year old who lost to Laureano Llarenas through points. He won his next five bouts but lost to Dixie Logan on his seventh fight two years later. After beating Flash Panio through points in July 26, 1959, Cruz fought for the interim PGAB featherweight title against Gil Flores (10 - 1 - 1) on June 5, 1959 and won via knockout.
His second chance to wear the belt came on that fateful March 21 of 1963 against a total unknown from a small highland city in a country across the Pacific fighting for the first time in a foreign soil.
It was the headline of a triple header that featured Eddie Griffith and Luis Manuel Rodriguez in welterweight and the hard punching Havana native Sugar Ramos going up against featherweight king Davey Moore, a rather tragic match that hogged the headlines the next day. But that is another story.
The underdog Cruz scored a sensational first round stoppage of the Mexican who Ring Magazine listed as one of the all-time 100 greatest punchers.
But it was a short lived story for the Baguio fighter, who three months later in front of 25,000 countrymen at the Rizal Baseball Stadium put up a gallant stand against American Eddie Perkins. Perkins was aiming to add Cruz’s belt to his waist which already have the belts from the World Boxing Council world super lightweight and WBA world super lightweight.
It was not just Cruz’s night, Maloney Samaco wrote on PhilBoxing.com
, where the Filipino was knocked down on the first round and badly battered in the third and sixth rounds. Though he finished the 15 round fight, Cruz came up short on points.
Cruz never fought for another world title and retired from boxing after losing to Fel Pedranza on September 28, 1968 in Angeles City.
Some 25 years later, in April 29, 1978, another Cordillera fighter went to the biggest stage of boxing but the result was not good. The jet lagged, overweight Rey Tam failed to beat Nicaraguan legend Alexis Arguello for the latter’s WBC’s world super feather weight belt when he gave up after five rounds.
Cruz will be one of the highlights of the new phase of the Heroes: Wall of Fame mural painting at the Baguio Athletic Bowl.
Gladys Labsan will now finish painting the murals on the 11-dugouts under the long stage of the big grandstand with Cruz as one of the highlights.
Six athletes have been painted on the walls of the five dugouts by Labsan and beside Begeo, a three time Olympian for athletics, it has the faces of two time Olympian Jerry Dino (judo), Erlinda Lavandia (athletics), Rey Tam (professional boxing) and current athletes Divine Wally (wushu sanda) and Jeordan Dominguez (taekwondo poomsae).
Labsan paint Cruz, 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medal winners for wushu sanda Mariane Mariano and Benjie Rivera.
The seven by 14 feet walls will also have former three time world karate champion Julian Pursen Chees; former two time Southeast Asian Games marathon queen Christabel Martes; and, Jearome Calica winner of gold medals in the 2001 and 2019 SEAG in wushu sanda and muay Thai waikru, respectively.
It will also contain the faces of bodybuilding greats Simeon “Sammy” Ayochok, a five time Mr. Asia, and Nemesio “Nick” Domalsin, who was known as the Baguio strongman and patriarch of a family of bodybuilders.
University of Baguio founder Fernando Bautista, Sr. and former Gintong Alay camp director and former councilor Narciso Padilla, who authored the athletes’ incentive ordinance, will be on one of the walls.
Other sports personalities to be painted on are former Baguio Colleges Foundation (University of the Cordilleras) athletic director Pedro Mendoza, Wushu Federation of the Philippines – Baguio Cordillera president and former movie actor Tony Candelaria.
Team Lakay’s Harold Banario will lend his painting skills when he will do the fasces of 10 athletes from the martial arts.
Former SEAG gold medal winner and Team Lakay fighter Mark Eddiva, Rhea Rifani (2005 SEAG gold); and Jean Claude Saclag, winner of a gold medal in the 2019 SEAG for kickboxing and previously as a wushu sanda player, a silver medalist in the Asian Games and gold in the medal winner World Cup of Wushu Sanda.
Three judo players namely Helen Dawa, now with the Philippine sambo team and cousins Sharon Kaybelle and Roland Dino, niece and nephew, respectively, of the late Jerry Dino;
Others are karate fifth dan master Edgar Kapawen and former SEAG gold medal winner Rey Hilario and Alice Kate Aparri, winner of three SEAG gold medals (2005, 2009 and 2011).
Veteran visual artist Ged Alangui who will do the murals of 10 other athletes, mostly from the other fields and includes Daniel Parantac (wushu-taolu), Kareel Meer Hongitan (archery), chess International Master Haridas Pascua, 2019 gold medal for kurash Estie Gay Liwanen, father and son car racers Carlos and Inigo Anton, golfer Mars Pucay, basketball players Douglas Kramer and the late Gerardo Verzosa, who both played for the Ateneo de Manila University Eagles and Majoy Baron, formerly of the Baguio City High School and De La Salle University and member of the Philippine team that won a bronze in the 2019 SEAG.
The eponymous Publications and Media Works Heroes: Wall of Fame mural project done in partnership with RNG Luzon and the city is backed by the Bureau of Copyrights and Related Rights as well as Davies Paints.
Other supporters of the project are the UC-BCF Alumni Association, Sizzling Plate, Metro Baguio Lions Club. Pigeon Lobien
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